Bicyclists, walkers deserve courtesy

The question was asked by a Tuesday letter writer, “why should I respect the rights of a bicycle rider?” This brings to mind another area of friction, that between cars and pedestrians. After all, why should we allow any of these people who are not paying their fair share for these roads that were meant for us to drive our cars on to get away with not obeying the law?

First of all, it is the job of law enforcement to enforce all traffic laws, whether for cars, bikes, buses, joggers, whatever. It seems they are not equipped to handle the job on the highways, let alone the streets and sidewalks. This is where an American (and particularly a Northwest) trait called courtesy comes into play, without which we would have a lot more accidents.

Second, most of these people are on their way to or from work, which means that they pay taxes, some of which goes toward road maintenance, probably more than their fair share, since bicycles do not wear out the roads and new roads are built with only minor token accommodations for bikes and pedestrians. This is one reason that I, and many others, need to sometimes play “like a vehicle on the road” and other times use the crosswalk.

Yes, sometimes even “professional transit drivers” get frustrated, but we are all together out there and I believe we need to give an extra measure of respect to those who are trying to help by getting out of their cars.

Terry Sullivan